Boris Johnson reportedly tried to get Apple to sponsor London's new Garden Bridge

London Mayor Boris Johnson reportedly met with Apple in California to try to convince the company to sponsor London's ambitious project to build a "Garden Bridge" across the River Thames, The Architects' Journal reports.

Johnson traveled to the US in early 2013, and The Architects' Journal says that he met with Apple executives to pitch London's Garden Bridge project.

He was looking to get corporate sponsorship from Apple for the bridge, which hadn't yet received backing from his office.

Another person at the meeting is reported to be Thomas Heatherwick, the British architect who designed the Garden Bridge. Heatherwick hadn't actually won the pitch to build the Garden Bridge at the time of the meeting with Apple, but he attended the meeting anyway.

London's proposed Garden Bridge. Heatherwick Studio

Apple doesn't really sponsor buildings or large projects like a Garden Bridge, so it's a curious idea that it would consider sponsoring Johnson's project. However, the Mayor's office confirmed the meeting took place, and gave this statement to The Architects' Journal:

The Mayor met with Apple in 2013 to discuss a number of investment opportunities in London. Thomas Heatherwick was also in California to meet a separate commitment with Apple. Given that he had already expressed interest in creating a Garden Bridge, the Mayor invited him to join the meeting and outline his ideas.

That meeting had no bearing on the procurement process led by Transport for London for the design of the Garden Bridge, which was open, fair and transparent.

The Garden Bridge will be a spectacular new addition to London. Work on building the bridge is due to begin this year and it is widely supported by Londoners and businesses on both sides of the river.

There's no sign that we're going to see an "Apple Bridge" in London any time soon, though. Sources told The Architects' Journal that it's not involved in the project — so it looks like Johnson's talks didn't work out as planned.

Business Insider has contacted Apple for a statement about the Garden Bridge project and we will update this article if the company responds.